Dashcam settings: auto vs. manual vs. honk

[Rten]

I am confused about the dashcam save settings. I have V11 software. When I get to the dashcam settings, I see that the "Auto" option is either fully selected or greyed out when I select the "manual" or "honk" options. Does this mean that:

• "Auto" is always functioning in case of an airbag deployment or major collision, unless the "off" option is selected. That is, you choose between "Auto" or "Off" for major collisions.
• You need to choose between "manual" and "honk"? That is, if you select "honk", then the dashcam icon does not save a recording even if you press on it. Conversely, "manual" requires you to press the dashcam icon to save a recording, because the horn will not do that. However, whether you select "manual" or "honk", "Auto" will still work in the event of a major collision.

Have I misunderstood the settings?

Background: I only got my M3 last November. I did not pay attention to the dashcam feature. My car was hit in the left rear quarter panel and took 1 month to repair. When I checked the dashcam videos, there was no recording of the accident, only a few sentry mode clips. I could not furnish my insurance company with footage that proves it was the other driver's fault. I am thinking that if I ever get into an accident or scary situation again, I need to honk or manually save a recording of the dashcam footage, since I can't rely on "Auto" -- is that right?

 

[Knightshade]

The owners manual mentions that if dashcam is on then tapping the icon always saves a recording, regardless of what you select in the menu you mention.

The honk option is in addition to being able to manually save with the dashcam icon

 

[outland4@]

I ran into the same kind of problem with a fender bender that was the other guy’s fault. I did not realize that I had to tap the dashcam icon to save the recording I needed. Unfortunately, I sat on the side of the road waiting for the police so long that new dash cam clips overwrote the clips I needed (probably because my flash drive was full). I know now about pushing the dashcam icon with the red light to save a video as soon as it is safe after an accident.

 

[Watts_Up]

Beside using the horn, it would be great if the recording and saving were also activated when pressing hard the brake pedal.

Best would be to use a real dashcam constanly recording and saving constantly and separately the front and the rear video cameras.

The Tesla dashcam only records one of the four cameras for few seconds at a time, so often a colision cannot be recorded.

 

[drtimhill]

The owners manual mentions that if dashcam is on then tapping the icon always saves a recording, regardless of what you select in the menu you mention.

The honk option is in addition to being able to manually save with the dashcam icon

Actually I'm not sure we ever answered the OP question. Yes, the "Honk" option means it saves if you honk the horn, but how does choosing this alter the way "Auto" works? Last time I looked (which was a few releases ago), as the OP says when you select Honk, the "Auto" option grays out. What does that mean? Is it saying "Auto is now always on" or "Auto is disabled when Honk is enabled". It certainly SUGGESTS the latter, since "grayed out" usually means "disabled" or "unavailable" .. but I dont see the logic in disabling Auto mode when Honk is enabled, or even why it the Auto button should EVER gray out depending on the other options.

As I said, I've not checked recently (and am not close to my car now to do so), but I'm also curious about this setting. Can someone please volunteer to turn Honk mode ON and then drive their car into a brick wall and see if Auto mode saves an event???

 

[Knightshade]

Beside using the horn, it would be great if the recording and saving were also activated when pressing hard the brake pedal.

This would quickly fill the drive in many parts of the country.

Best would be to use a real dashcam constanly recording and saving constantly and separately the front and the rear video cameras.

The Tesla dashcam only records one of the four cameras for few seconds at a time, so often a colision cannot be recorded.

uh... what?

Dashcam continuously saves footage to Recent Clips in 60-minute cycles. Footage is overwritten every hour unless you manually save it. Four videos are recorded for each clip, one from each camera (front, rear, left, and right).

The above is literally from the owners manual.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I ran into the same kind of problem with a fender bender that was the other guy’s fault. I did not realize that I had to tap the dashcam icon to save the recording I needed. Unfortunately, I sat on the side of the road waiting for the police so long that new dash cam clips overwrote the clips I needed (probably because my flash drive was full). I know now about pushing the dashcam icon with the red light to save a video as soon as it is safe after an accident.

It overwrote it because it only loops an hour by default and deletes any clips beyond that.
Model S Owner's Manual | Tesla

You can recover beyond an hour using a file recovery tool like Recuva. I talked about it here:
Dashcam in Auto

 

[outland4@]

This would quickly fill the drive in many parts of the country.






uh... what?

Dashcam continuously saves footage to Recent Clips in 60-minute cycles. Footage is overwritten every hour unless you manually save it. Four videos are recorded for each clip, one from each camera (front, rear, left, and right).

The above is literally from the owners manual.

Thank you for the best explanation yet for how the dashcam records and overwrites video clips.

 

[outland4@]

It overwrote it because it only loops an hour by default and deletes any clips beyond that.
Model S Owner's Manual | Tesla

You can recover beyond an hour using a file recovery tool like Recuva. I talked about it here:
Dashcam in Auto

Thanks for the Recuva program tip. I downloaded the free version and found the deleted video clip I needed on my Tesla flash drive using my home computer. As you have noted, the Recuva clips are not necessarily in chronological order so it takes some effort to find what you’re looking for, but patience pays off.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Thanks for the Recuva program tip. I downloaded the free version and found the deleted video clip I needed on my Tesla flash drive using my home computer. As you have noted, the Recuva clips are not necessarily in chronological order so it takes some effort to find what you’re looking for, but patience pays off.

Glad the tip was able to help and recover the footage. Luckily Tesla uses a standard mp4, so file recovery works fairly well even though it takes some time to manually parse through and find the right clip.